1. Field of the Invention
Paper sheet collecting, stacking and jogging systems usually embody a transportation system such as one or more conveyor belts which advance single flat sheets or carton blanks individually along one or more paths at a high speed into single or multiple confinement areas where the sheets are stopped and begin to stack one on top of the other.
As the stack becomes too high to receive more sheets, the supporting base is automatically lowered. After the maximum height of the stack has been reached, the operation is halted completely until the finished stack is removed and a new stack can be started.
According to the present method, the feed of the sheets is not stopped when a stack is completed. Instead, a horizontal gate is inserted above the stack to support the new sheets being fed while the stack is removed from below the gate. The base support of the stack is then elevated to its initial position, the inserted gate is removed and the second stack is started by sheets accumulated on the gate dropping onto the stack support.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art both back-stopping of the leading edges of the advancing single sheets and jogging of the trailing edges so as to form a stack are well known However, the prior art devices generally require that the advancing conveyor be shut down completely for removal of the stack. This removal us usually accomplished by downward or lateral movement of the stack with respect to the back stopping and jogging elements.